


I'll be home for Christmas

by striking_stroll18



Category: Formula 1 RPF, Formula 2 RPF
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, i think, i will not stop saying boys with emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/striking_stroll18/pseuds/striking_stroll18
Summary: Christmas is almost there, but something unexpected disturbs Marcus' and Callum's plans.
Relationships: Marcus Armstrong/Callum Ilott
Comments: 4
Kudos: 72
Collections: Motorsport Secret Santa 2020





	I'll be home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Schneekristall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schneekristall/gifts).



> Me gifting you 10k of fic within a month? More likely than you think! As usual, I hope you like it, and I hope you didn't mind the little spoilers from the discord. I might not read this around people, because it *might* make you very emo. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!  
> Credits for the title go to Kissedbylighing, and thank you for helping me with the editing. Another big thanks to RobinJuncadella, the aforementioned Kissedbylighting and of course to you! You guys are my discord sprint squad and I couldn't have pulled this off in such little time without you guys!  
> Enjoy the fic!

To say that Marcus and Callum were looking forward to Christmas was an understatement. Their season had been exhausting, and while they would miss racing, the winter break allowed them to unwind and spend time with their families. A few days ago, they had returned to Italy from Abu Dhabi and had prepared everything for their departures to England and New Zealand, respectively. Today, Marcus' flight would leave, and Callum's flight was scheduled for the next morning. The Kiwi had been walking around the house with a smile on his face for the whole day already. Callum found it very endearing and watched along in amusement when Marcus excitedly told the chickens what he would do with his family.

Marcus would soon leave for the airport, so it was no surprise when Callum heard a suitcase being dragged around the house. He got up from where he was sitting on the sofa and went into the hallway. Marcus was putting on his shoes and his coat, the smile even broader than before. "I hope you didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to your favourite roommate?"

The Kiwi hadn't realised that Callum had entered the hallway and jumped a little when Callum's voice spoke up behind his back.

"This would never cross my mind, Cal", Marcus replied with pretended outrage. Both drivers laughed, and they lightly hugged each other.

"I hope you'll have fun at home. Have a safe flight", the Brit whispered into his friend's ear.

"Thank you. I hope you will have fun in England, too." With that, they parted, and Marcus picked up the handle of his suitcase. Both men walked to the front door, and Callum watched Marcus walk over to his car. They waved goodbye to each other, and when Marcus had driven off a short time later, Callum returned to his spot on the sofa. The house seemed strangely quiet without Marcus around, and Callum found he already missed his friend. Over the years they had been living together, they had gotten used to the other man's presence, so it always felt a little weird to be alone.

Later that night, Callum was watching an episode of his favourite TV show when he suddenly heard a car approaching the house and stopping in the driveway. The Brit paused the show and listened confusedly. He didn't expect any visitors, nor did he order a package that was supposed to arrive. And it couldn't be Marcus since his flight was supposed to leave several hours ago. When nothing happened, he thought he had been wrong, and there wasn't a car outside.

However, just when he was about to press play again, a car honked once. Not knowing what was going on, Callum left his spot in the living room and went to the front door to check. He was incredibly frustrated as he had just wanted to have a relaxed evening on his own before returning to his family the next day. When he opened the front door, his confusion only increased. It was Marcus who was inside the car, his head resting on the steering wheel and his shoulders shaking. Realising that his friend was crying, Callum quickly slipped on a pair of shoes and walked over to the car in the driveway. He carefully knocked on the window, but Marcus didn't react. Carefully, the blonde man opened the door, the quiet sobs breaking his heart. He squatted down beside Marcus, slowly placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Hey, Marcus. What happened? Why are you here?"

Callum spoke softly with his friend, his voice full of kindness. There was still no reaction from Marcus, so Callum reached over his friend to undo the seatbelt. "Come on, let's go inside. If you don't want to talk about what happened, that's fine. We don't need to talk about it. But I want to be sure that you're alright, and this includes getting you out of the car."

This suggestion was the first thing that sparked a reaction from Marcus, the Kiwi looking at Callum with watery eyes and nodding slowly. His shoulders were still shaking, and he struggled with getting out of the car. Callum was waiting for him right by the open car door, and he drew Marcus into a tight hug as soon as he was safely out of the car. Gently shushing his friend, Callum ran a hand through the other one's hair in what he hoped was a calming manner. After a minute or so, Marcus had calmed down considerably, and Callum dared to unwrap his arms from his friend's torso to close the driver's door. Marcus was still crying, but he was able to get inside the house without falling because he was still shaking and without walking against anything due to his blurred vision. Once both men were inside, Callum helped Marcus to take off his coat and shoes before he discarded his own shoes.

"Where do you want to go? Or would you prefer being on your own?" The Brit's voice was still gentle, and he patiently waited for Marcus to answer him.

"No, please don’t go. I don't want to be alone right now. Can we sit down in the living room?" Marcus' voice was broken and was interrupted by quiet sobs. Callum nodded before he grabbed Marcus hand and lead them to the living room. They both sat down on the couch, their faces only illuminated by the glow of the TV. Callum had wrapped his arms around Marcus' shaking frame again and had started to mutter soothing words to his friend. After a little while, there were no more tears spilling from Marcus' eyes, his shoulders had stopped shaking, and his sobs had stopped, too.

"I'll go and turn on the lights, alright?"

Callum wanted to be sure that his friend was okay with being left alone on the sofa for a few seconds, so he waited until he could make out Marcus' small nod in the dimly lit room. Gently stroking over the Kiwi's arm, Callum got up and walked the few steps to the light switch. At the sudden brightness, both men had to squint but got used to it fairly quickly. Now that they could see each other in proper lighting, Callum realised how red and puffy Marcus' eyes were, and the tear tracks on his face were evident.

"If you prefer to be alone, you have to let me know, Marcs. But if you want to talk, I will listen. And if you don't want to talk but don't want to be alone either, that's fine, too. We can watch a film together or something", Callum told his roommate kindly.

"I think that would be for the best. I don't think I can talk about it without crying again", Marcus whispered back hoarsely when Callum was sitting next to him on the sofa again. "Can you turn on a news channel before that, though?"

The Brit was confused at Marcus' request but followed it anyway. At first, nothing interesting was on, just some talks about the economy. But then the broadcast cut back to the news presenter in the studio.

_"And now to the latest information about the volcanic eruption in Iceland. After various small eruptions and one major eruption over the day, all flights to and from Europe had to be cancelled until further notice. Many people cannot go back to their home countries and will likely be unable to do so until after Christmas. All airlines have already announced that plane tickets for cancelled flights can either be returned with the full purchase price returned or can be changed to flights with a later date."_

Now Callum understood why Marcus had been so upset. He couldn't go home and see his family. Of course, Callum couldn't either, but at least he had been able to see his parents during the season. But with virtually no summer break nowadays and Marcus' parents working, there hadn't been a possibility for Marcus to fly to New Zealand or his parents to fly to Europe.

"Oh, Marcus. I'm so sorry. I know how excited you were to see them again", Callum said quietly, trying to hide his disappointment over not being able to go home from showing in his voice.

"It's just so unfair, you know. I haven't seen my family in person for months, and now this? And I can't see them much next year either", Marcus said, his sadness partially being replaced by anger. Callum didn't know what to reply to that, so he just smiled comfortingly.

Silence erupted between them, both of them thinking about what they would do now.

"We will celebrate Christmas properly though, right, Cal?" Marcus sounded hopeful now, and Callum nodded without hesitation.

"We need a Christmas tree though. And cool decorations", the Brit added, a grin on his face. To his delight, it caused Marcus to smile, too. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Suddenly, the younger man moved forward and pushed Callum over so that Marcus was half lying on top of the blonde man.

"Err... Marcs, what are you doing?" Callum was very confused again, and also very insecure.

"What does it look like, Cal? I'm trying to cuddle you", Marcus replied sheepishly, a faint blush covering his cheeks.

Instead of answering Marcus, Callum grabbed the TV remote and opened Netflix.

"Any suggestions on what we should watch? And I swear, if you dare to suggest something like Transformers again, you will very quickly end up cuddling the floor", the Brit jokingly threatened. Marcus pouted but didn't say anything for a short while.

"Can we watch a few episodes of _Brooklyn 99_? I don't think I'll be able to stay awake for a whole film", the Kiwi yawned. Callum nodded and searched for it, starting whatever episode they were on. The Brit didn't pay much attention to the show, as he was too busy thinking about how he could make Marcus feel better at the prospect of not seeing his family for Christmas. He had put his arm around Marcus' back, his hand resting on his side. The younger one's head rested on his chest, and one leg was slung over Callum's. It was something Callum had noticed in his roommate's behaviour before. He would become clingy if he were upset. Callum didn't mind it usually, but lately, the blonde man couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, there was something more between them. Absentmindedly, Marcus started drawing circles on Callum's stomach and just enjoyed the comfort that he felt from being close to his roommate.

About halfway through the third episode, Callum noticed that Marcus had stopped drawing circles and when he looked down, he saw that the younger man had fallen asleep in his arms. Smiling softly, he carefully pushed Marcus off him and stood up. The Brit smiled down on his roommate and bent down to carefully lift him from the sofa. He didn't want to wake Marcus up, so he walked as gently and cautiously as possible to the younger one's bedroom. Once he had arrived there, Callum smoothly lowered the Kiwi onto the mattress after pulling back the covers. When Marcus was lying on the bed, the older man pulled the covers over him, gently tucking him in.

"I promise we will have the best possible Christmas together", he whispered, tenderly running his fingers through the short brown hair of the other man. Callum quietly walked out of Marcus' bedroom and closed the door behind him. He walked back into the living room to turn off the TV and the lights. The racing driver also grabbed his phone from the coffee table and unlocked it, immediately seeing unread messages his mother had sent him. Sighing, he walked to his bedroom, turning off all lights in the process. He read the texts from his mother and replied that he would call the next day but that he was sad that he couldn't come home for Christmas. Not long after, he also fell asleep. His day may not have been physically exhausting, but without a doubt it had been mentally exhausting.

The next morning, Marcus woke up to the smell of pancakes and pans clattering in the kitchen. For a few seconds, he felt happy, not remembering that he couldn't fly to New Zealand. But then the memories of the night before came back, and his good mood was immediately ruined. Instead of getting up just yet, Marcus stared at the ceiling and wished for this all to be a bad dream he would wake up from soon. When there was no more clattering from the kitchen, Marcus decided that he couldn't hide in his room forever and had to face Callum at some point.

Along with the memories of why he couldn't go back home, the memories of how he had fallen asleep in Callum's arms had come back, too. Not bothering to get changed, Marcus padded into the kitchen barefoot. To his confusion, his roommate was nowhere to be seen, so he called out his name and waited for an answer. However, the Kiwi didn't get one. Marcus spotted a plate with pancakes in the oven on low heat. Leaving the kitchen to check the living room for Callum, Marcus soon found his friend in their backyard, talking on the phone. He had his back turned towards the glass doors, so he didn't see Marcus approaching them and poking his head outside.

"So, what exactly is going on with breakfast? Should I wait or not?"

Callum got startled by the voice of his roommate suddenly speaking behind his back.

"Yes, Mum, I will call again later. No, I'm not going to video call you", Callum said quickly before saying goodbye to his mother and hanging up the phone.

"Did Sleeping Beauty finally decide to wake up, too? I wanted to wait for you, and now I'm starving", Callum announced with raised eyebrows. Marcus just rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out.

"Not everyone wants to get up early when they don't have work to do", the Kiwi teased his roommate. Now it was Callum who rolled his eyes, a smile on his face.

"Seriously though, I'm starving", he repeated. As if to accentuate his words, his stomach grumbled. Laughing, the two men walked to the kitchen together. Callum got the pancakes from the oven while Marcus set the table and got out some pancake toppings they had at home. Pancakes had always been their preferred cheat meal breakfast, so it was no surprise Callum made them after the bad news they got last night.

In silence, they began to eat breakfast. Neither man knew what he should talk about with the other man. Their silence was interrupted by Marcus' phone ringing from his jacket pocket in the hallway. The brown-haired driver left his spot at the kitchen table to answer his phone. As he had silently suspected, it was his parents who called him. Great, because that was what he needed right now. In the kitchen, Callum heard Marcus answering his phone and a short, quiet conversation that started with "Yes I'm fine" and ended with "Yeah, hope to see you guys soon, too." Anything between that, Callum didn't catch, but it wasn't his business.

When Marcus returned to the kitchen to finish his breakfast, he looked more down that before, so Callum said "I was thinking about maybe buying Christmas decorations and the tree today. It's better if we do it today before there is no good stuff left in a few days."

At that, Marcus' face lit up, something close to a smile appearing on his face.

"That sounds nice, Cal", Marcus replied before eating the rest of his pancake. And with that, it was a done deal. After breakfast, they both got ready to leave for the town where they would raid every shop they could find for Christmas decorations.

Time flew by, and before they realised it, Christmas was upon them. Both of them had bought a small present for the other one. Marcus had purchased a new dress shirt for Callum since he had stolen one of Callum's other ones. But it wouldn't be Marcus if there wasn’t a joke behind the gift. The shirt was bright pink and probably wouldn't fit Callum properly. Attached to it was a note saying, " _You should wear this to the next award ceremony_ " with which Marcus referred to the fact that Callum didn't have a nice shirt with him in Bahrain when he needed it.

The Brit had bought a sloth stuffed animal, referring to his nickname for Marcus, but he had also gotten an empty photo album to which he added a note saying, " _For the next time that you go home_ ". Callum had noticed that Marcus barely had any photos of where he grew up, and only very few of his family. Of course, the Brit was aware that physical photo albums were quite old-fashioned, but he still liked the idea. They had wrapped the presents more or less neatly and had even placed them under their Christmas Tree.

When Marcus woke up on Christmas Day, he immediately went to check if Callum was already awake. To his surprise, the Brit was still fast asleep, but because it was Christmas and they wanted to celebrate together, Marcus almost jumped on the bed to wake him up.

"Cal, it's Christmas. Wake up", Marcus whined, draping his body over his friend's. Callum groaned and tried to turn around, mumbling something into his pillow.

"Come on, get up. I want to unwrap my present, and I don't want to do it when I'm alone", the Kiwi replied, a pleading sound to his voice.

"Urgh, fine. Get off me though, Marcs", Callum said, his voice hoarse from sleep and his eyes still closed. He tried to sound grumpy, but the smile on his face betrayed him. Beaming, Marcus did as he was told, but not before hugging Callum tightly - or well, as tightly as their awkward position allowed it. Standing next to the bed, Marcus impatiently waited for his roommate to get up. As soon as Callum had placed both feet on the floor, Marcus dragged him into the living room.

Once there, they both took a moment to appreciate their Christmas tree that they had decorated one afternoon. But then, Marcus almost ran to the presents lying on the floor under its branches. In a slower pace, Callum followed his friend, a soft smile on his face. Marcus was unbelievably adorable like this, and Callum hadn't seen the younger man that happy since the day he was meant to leave for New Zealand. When the Brit arrived at the tree, Marcus was already ready to unwrap his present, but he waited for Callum to pick up his gift as well. Once the older one held it in his hands, Marcus started to rip off the gift wrap.

Soon, he had the sloth in one hand and the photo album in the other. Tears had formed in his eyes when he read the note Callum had written for him. At first, Callum thought that Marcus didn't like it, but when a gentle smile appeared on his face, Callum understood that Marcus was happy. He tried to say something, but the Kiwi choked on his own words. He was touched that Callum had noticed how few pictures Marcus had and that the Brit had been so thoughtful with his gift.

Marcus didn't realise he was crying before Callum wrapped his arms around him again, drawing him close.

"I don't know how to thank you for this, Cal. I'm not just talking about the photo album, but for all of this. You could have said 'I don't need planes to go home' and have taken the car and then the ferry, but you didn't. You stayed here, and I don't know if it was because you didn't think of it or because you wanted to stay. But I don't care. I wouldn't have known what I had done without you", Marcus sobbed, his tears wetting Callum's sleep shirt.

"Marcs, you don't need to thank me. I couldn't have left you on your own for Christmas", the older man whispered, leaving out the fact that he had, in fact, not had the idea of taking the ferry because he forgot about it.

"Besides, I think I should thank you for the shirt. I like to believe that bright pink is _exactly_ my colour", Callum grinned, trying to cheer Marcus up, and succeeding in doing so. They looked into each other's eyes, soft smiles on both of their faces. Without realising what they were doing, they leaned in. Their lips met in a gentle kiss, just lips gliding over each other. Their eyes had closed the instant their lips had met, and slowly Callum's hands found their way to Marcus' waist. Marcus had put his hands in Callum's hair and slowly ran his fingers through the strands.

When they were both out of breath, they both drew back a little, their eyes still closed. Their foreheads were now resting against each other, and they both had huge grins on their faces.

"Was that another Christmas present from you? Because I think I like this even more than the shirt", Callum joked breathlessly.

"Shut up, Cal. Put your mouth to a better use and kiss me again", Marcus muttered back.

"Since you asked this nicely."

And if the rest of their Christmas Day was spent calling their families and lazily making out on the sofa when they weren't on call anymore, nobody but them needed to know.


End file.
